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15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 3:39 pm
by Texus Maximus
We played two Fantasy Triumph! battles Sunday afternoon using 15mm Armies from the Lord of the Rings. The players included my nephew, my son, and my daughter-in-law

The Armies

The Rohan army had six Knights, a Horsebow, one Heavy Foot, a Bow Levy, and a Hero (Theoden). They also had a contingent of four stands of Ents. The Ents were treated as Behemoths/Elephants in the rules. The special rules for them included Delayed Entry, Terrain Affinity: Woods, and Sub-commander for the stand including Treebeard. Delayed Entry meant the Ents would not arrive on the board until the Rohan player rolled a "six" and spent all those points bringing them on.

The Saruman army had eight stands of Pikes, one unit of trolls (Behemoth/Elephant), two Light Foot, one Bad Horse, a Heavily Fortified Camp, and one stand of goblins riding wolves. The General is a stand of Elite Foot. These were treated as Javelin Cavalry, but move slightly slower, must follow up when they push back the enemy (Fierce), and treat woods as clear terrain like the Ents.

First Battle

The Saruman army was the invader so the battlefield topography was Steppe. Rohan had the tactical advantage. The roll for the number of terrain pieces was high, so the Rohan player placed a lot of woods because the Ents would be able to operate freely there.

The Forces Arrayed

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The Rohan forces (top) are arrayed with the Knights and infantry in front of the camp. Theoden and the Horsebow unit are on their right flank (left side of the picture) beyond the woods.

Saruman's forces are in a line with the Trolls and Bad Horse on the left. The Light Foot are on the right of the Pikes. The wolf-riding goblins are on the right flank. The General is behind the Pikes.

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Saruman looks out over his army from high atop the tower of Orthanc

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The goblins race through the woods to outflank the Rohan line.

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Saruman's main line advances straight forward.

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Men of Dunland enter the woods.

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Rohan shifts their infantry to meet the goblin threat emerging from the woods.

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Realizing the infantry will be too slow, the Rohan commander details a unit of Knights to assist.

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The mass of orcs and trolls grind forward.

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Theoden has not moved at all so far, and now we see why. He has obviously been bemused by Wormtongue. Actually the Rohan player was plagued by low die rolls but I wanted to find an excuse to put my Wormtongue figure on the board.

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The goblins approach the camp.

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The riders of Rohan look in vain for the Ents to arrive. They will not come!

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The battle lines meet and the men of Rohan are quickly defeated. Their camp is on fire behind them. The rest flee in despair, cursing the wretched Ents who left them to fight alone.

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Goblins and wolves prove their worth by taking the camp.

Review

A good learning game for both sides. The Rohan player was hampered by the woods that made it hard to maneuver. He was also plagued by low rolls, and never rolled the "six" required to bring the Ents on the board. Most of his command points were spent trying to meet the threat of the wolves and goblins.

We had never played using Pikes and Knights before and now know that Knights have almost no chance taking them on frontally, especially when double-ranked.

We used the large Ent contingent just so we could get enough points on the board, but Rohan would be better served having more infantry and Knights instead.

Re: 15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 4:19 pm
by Texus Maximus
We switched sides and played again. Saruman was again the invader and also had the tactical advantage. There were three pieces of terrain; one gentle hill and two woods towards the center on Rohan's side.

Saruman set up with the wolf-riders on his far left flank, orcs and trolls in the center, and the Dunland infantry on the far left. His intent was to send the wolf-riders on another outflanking mission while the Light Foot stood ready to impede any Ents that cared to show up. The center would move forward as quickly as possible to defeat the Knights before help arrived.

Rohan's forces were split into two groups of three Knights. The intent was to avoid the pikes in the front by maneuvering to both flanks.

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The Forces Arrayed

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The Second Battle

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The Rohan player (me in this case) got lucky and rolled a Six on the first turn. The Ents arrive and begin to march on Orthanc.

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The forces of Saruman drive on, confident in the strength of Orthanc to withstand any assault.

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Goblins and wolves race through the woods.

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Eomer seeks the enemy flank. Theoden is with him also.

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The horsemen of Dunland fight fiercely, driving back the knights of Rohan.

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Eomer falls back, but other knights press forward again on the Dunlendings.

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The left flank of Rohan face a wall of orcs with long spears and trolls.

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The Dunlendings are doomed.

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Eomer renews the attack.

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A breakthrough seems imminent; soon the riders of Rohan can turn and roll up the enemy line.

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The left flank of the Rohan army faces annihilation.

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The orcs turn and take Eomer and Theoden in the flank. They fall under the long spears of the orcs.

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Trolls wade into the line of Knights and defeat them.

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Treebeard and the Ents assault Orthanc. They come close to breaking the tower, but their efforts are for nothing. Orthanc cannot be taken.

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Orcs and Trolls continue to devastate the left flank of the Rohan army and the forces of Rohan retreat.

Review

A much more evenly balanced game this time. Rohan had a few chances to maneuver but was again hindered by terrain. The Ents were not able to take the enemy camp, but came close. Once again the wolf-riding goblins proved their worth.

Re: 15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:10 am
by Brummbär
Pure eye-candy...
...I love it!!!

Re: 15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:44 pm
by spenn
Well done. Enjoyed reading the post. I was cheering for Rohan.

Re: 15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2023 12:58 am
by Texus Maximus
Well done. Enjoyed reading the post. I was cheering for Rohan.
Come on down to Rockwall and we can try it out again! I am adding some more Heavy Infantry and Knights so that there will be an option to drop the Ent contingent. They never showed up in the first game, then arrived on the first turn of the second game but were not able to capture the enemy camp.

Re: 15mm Rohan vs. Saruman

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2023 10:44 am
by spenn
On my way. Should be there sometime this summer! :D